Future was like yards and yards of plain-cloth in her imagination; new and uncut. It had the untouched feel and the seminal smell of starch. Present was a sewing machine that runs over the cloth, monotonously, for hours. Present stitches…
Bride’s Home Coming
Biswanath Banerjee was up earlier than usual in the morning. He was flush with excitement, outwardly though he was the epitome of composure. He did not wish to let his wife Sucheta understand what was going on inside his mind.…
Dhananjoy
Dhananjoy was all of 13 years when he came to work for us at our maternal grandparents’ house in Kolkata. Gosaba, a village at the border of Sunderban was his home I was told by my grandmother. I had never…
In the Hands of the Goddess
With his toes just touching the water, Jin let the waves lap at his feet. Warmed by the heat of the midday sun that hung hard and blinding, the ocean heaved and yawed under the unbroken light. But the water…
Our old Asian philospophy could say that human life can be interpreted as a simple principle of 24 times 4
In retrospect, I, for a long time, seemed to have lived and consumed my own time and energy twice harder and faster than a normal life. Casually I spent 80 hours of work per week and soaked in a flood…
B to B: Broadway to Bangkok
Phoenix Music Center in collaboration with Keerapat International School is presenting the musical “B to B: Broadway to Bangkok” which will be held between October 13-14, 2012. The show will start at 6 p.m. in the Auditorium of Keerapat International…
The Death of Nong Fred
My writing teacher once advised me: Never write a story in which nothing but bad things happen to the main character. She said it’s a disservice to the reader. However, she also told me to always write the truth. So…
The Nemenzo Brothers (Part II)
(Read Part I here) “Have you asked your Lolo?” Ma’am Gayson said, lighting the candle with a matchstick. “No,” I answered. Ma’am Gayson knelt down and buried the lower end of the candle on the soil, beside a cluster of…
The Nemenzo Brothers (Part I)
The comfort room looked as though it was from another place or time. Its walls were gray, and weeds and trees were growing wildly around it, while the rest of the campus was spruced up. The classrooms were painted rainbow,…
Adulteress
Nita was passing by Miling’s house when the latter called her. “Come over for a moment,” Miling said, waving so frantically that Nita thought the matter must be urgent. She walked to Miling, and Miling met her at the low-rise…
The Journey Beyond
Her eyes fluttered open. As her eyes received light after a long period of time, everything appeared quite a bit dazzling to her. She could not quite make out anything apart from the bright light that encompassed her. In the…